The present invention relates to a novel antibiotic substance, named Mycoplanecin, to a novel microorganism, Actinoplanes nov. sp. Strain No. 41042 capable of producing Mycoplanecin, and to a process for producing Mycoplanecin by cultivating a Mycoplanecin-producing mciroorganism of the genus Actinoplanes.
The novel antibiotic substance, Mycoplanecin, can be characterized by the following physical and chemical properties:
1. Colour and state
White powder.
2. Melting point
161.degree.-167.degree. C.
3. Specific rotation
[.alpha.].sub.D.sup.21 -66.degree. (C=0.4, chloroform).
4. Elemental anaylsis
C, 61.78%; H, 8.48%; N, 11.75%. (After drying to constant weight)
5. Ultraviolet absorption spectrum
Only terminal absorption as shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, when measured at 20 .mu.g/ml in a 50% v/v aqueous methanolic solution.
6. Infrared absorption spectrum
The spectrum, measured in a KBr disc, is shown in FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings.
7. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum
The spectrum, as measured in deuterochloroform as solvent and with tetramethylsilane (TMS) as internal standard, is shown in FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings.
8. Solubility
Soluble in methanol, ethanol, ethyl acetate, acetone and chloroform.
Sparingly soluble in benzene.
Insoluble in water.
9. Colour reaction
Brown-coloured with 50% v/v aqueous sulphuric acid. Positive for iodine and potassium permanganate on silica gel thin layer chromatograms. Negative for ninhydrin and 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine.
10. Amino acid composition
1 mole each of glycine, proline, leucine, 2-amino-5-methylhexanoic acid, N-methylthreonine, N-methylleucine, methylpropline and ethylproline, and 2 moles of N-methylvaline detected after hydrolysis with 6 N hydrochloric acid at 105.degree. C. for 20 hours.
11. Antibacterial activity
Strong antibacterial activity against various bacteria of the genus Mycobacterium.
In addition, Mycoplanecin has Rf values (on silica gel thin layer chromatography, F254, 0.25 mm, No. 5715, available from Merck and Co. Inc) of 0.15 when developed with ethyl acetate and 0.64 when developed with a 95:5 by volume mixture of chloroform and methanol.
The novel microorganism of the invention is Actinoplanes nov. sp. Strain No. 41042, which was isolated from a sample of soil collected in Sumoto City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The strain has been deposited under Accession No. FERM-4504 with the Technical Research Institute of the Microbial Industry, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Japan. The strain has also been deposited under Accession No. NRRL-11462 with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Also provided, as part of the present invention, is a method of producing the new antibiotic substance, Mycoplanecin, which comprises cultivating a Mycoplanecin-producing microorganism of the genus Actinoplanes and then isolating Mycoplanecin from the culture.